Cyber Attacks to Anticipate in 2018

According to Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, the cyber threats are a huge risk of concern to mankind and actually bigger than the threat of nuclear weapons. Therefore Governments and businesses should be concerned about their fate regarding exposure to cybersecurity. In an effort to do so, it is important to consider what to anticipate in the near future so as to stay on top of your security. Here are some of the top cybersecurity predictions for the year 2018.

Ransom Will Be One of the Most Dangerous Cyber Threats

Computer screen with ransomware attack alert in red and a man keying on keyboard in a dark room ideal for online security and digital crime

The number of malware continued to increase throughout the year 2017 and this is expected to double in 2018. Some of the Ransomware threats we have experienced are WannaCry, NotPetya, and Bad Rabbit. These have demonstrated the possible dangers and serious impacts that companies and governments can expect.

Some of the companies that were seriously affected by these threats include transportation giant Maersk and FedEx who reported massive losses as a result.

In 2018, it is expected that WannaCry and NotPetya will leverage NSA exploit so as to improve their spread and also infect as many systems as possible. The authors of these threats are obviously busy trying to make them more efficient and hard to detect.

Cryptocurrencies Will Face Great Threat From Cybercriminals

Bitcoin continues to rise in value as we tend towards the year 2018, and therefore this is an attractive area that cybercriminals will be looking to rip from. The hackers have already started targeting people involved in cryptocurrencies and this should sound like a serious warning. Initial Coin Offerings are some of the areas that recent cybercriminals are targeting. This is in attempts to hijack funds and buy tokens. Statistics from the last few months show that 4 ICO`s were targeted by cyber criminals and people lost millions of dollars. Further, security firms have detected several malware practices targeting cryptocurrency users and the websites are the targeted avenues.

IoT Devices Will Become Dangerous Weapon

Most of the cyber attacks will be instigated through the IoT devices which are already under unceasing threats. Lack of security by design and poor security are some of the factors that have contributed to successful attacks on these devices. Corero a security firm recently published a report showing that the number of DDoS attacks has doubled in 2017 and this is as a result of unsecured IoT devices. Therefore in 2018, this could be ended to become more serious as attackers develop sophisticated attack methods.

Cyberbullying is an Emergency and Will Be Experienced in 2018

This is the practice of using technology to bully a person and it is already an alarming emergency. It is apparently one of the most dangerous activities. Ther teenagers are the most affected and apparently instigators in most cases. This will be on the rise in 2018. Therefore, Governments and institutions such as Universities and high schools should embrace to face this adequately. Parents too should be ready to offer to counsel to their teens.

In the year 2018, the number of cyber attacks will continue to grow. This is in every industry and the most vulnerable will be health, energy, retail, and the finance sectors. The best organizations and Governments can do is anticipate these threats and prepare in advance. Therefore hire Security consultants to help in analyzing the security threats on your infrastructure. This analysis should cover both software and hardware. For expert advice, you can contact us on http://www.belnis.com/contact-us/. We are experts in matters of cybersecurity for Government and the private sector. Call us today.

You know cyber terrorism is for real when they break into the databases of FBI partnered organizations. In our last post, we discussed how the ISIS has equipped itself to carry out cyber-attacks on governments and business entities. In this edition, we talk about steps you need to take to keep it safe and functional.

There are two chief causes of concern on cyber terrorism:

There is no tested or universal safeguard

There is no official and unanimous definition of cyber terrorism

It is fairly difficult to counter an undefined or unknown enemy. But there are fairly simple steps that are often surprisingly sufficient to save you from a potential cyber terror attack. Here is a roundup of four such steps.

Step 1: Use protection for hardware and software

Strong systems to detect intrusions are already available. You may install one of these after proper tests and verification. Once installed, show alacrity in your response to any detected intrusion. It is highly recommended to keep programs patched when receiving security updates from vendors. This logs in all activities and you will be able to detect anomalies.

It goes without saying that you should choose only trusted and reputed vendors when securing computer software and hardware.

Step 2: Partner with defensive entities

New defensive organizations have been set up in the public-private partnership model to counter cyber threats. The FBI can be used as a resource to keep learning new threats and defense mechanisms. Your system should be kept secure with effective firewalls and moderate to highly strong passwords. System firewalls are also great aids in warding off threats.

Use strong antivirus software. Update regularly and run weekly checks to detect and remove anything unusual.

Step 3: Create a watertight security policy

Ask employees not to open email attachments that look even remotely dubious. If there is no pressing need, do not respond to messages from unknown sources. Install regular check routines to ensure compliance with regulations and policies. Follow reports and news that warn about regular threats, including new worms or malware circulated by cyber terrorists.

Install filters that screen out messages or material from known sources of cyber terrorism and even from some rogue countries.

Step 4: Keep testing the waters

It is a wise idea to employ a security service that keeps running tests on your systems and reports any discrepancy. You may use a secure encryption service for both external and internal messages. A good company will also provide you with a password system that regularly checks passwords. Make sure to use complex passwords that include combinations of special characters, upper and lower cases and numbers.

Cyber terrorism could be an amateur adventure or a planned attack by trained professionals. Following the steps mentioned above will help you shield both.

Until now, the ISIS cyber attacks have been launched by disparate and uncoordinated groups whose claims to association with the Caliphate have largely been unfounded. But that changes with the central outfit collating these nomadic outlaws to form the United Cyber Caliphate.

Now with the ISIS planning professional cyber attacks managed directly by the top brass of the terrorist organization, cyber security experts are miles deep into analyzing the threat and formulating a suitable combat strategy.

The rising concern

“Not long back, we rated the cyber threat from them as mediocre and without the acumen for sophisticated targeting. But ISIS cyber attacks have entered a new dimension with the Newsweek Twitter Accounts and CENTCOM,” reflects Laith Alkhouri, a co-founder at Flashpoint, the pioneer of Dark Web Intelligence.

“It goes without saying that governments and companies will be on top of the hit-list if they are working in an order of rank,” he added.

It only gets greyer from here

We will not make any bones about this: the “uneducated-youth-misled-into-terror” theory was debunked some three eons ago. As we find ISIS recruiting a boatload of sharp brains, their success ratio for these assaults is bound to go further right of the scale.

Even if the collected ISIS cyber attacks monitored by United Cyber Caliphate turn out to be partially successful, it will result in mammoth inflation in notoriety and they will attract more talent from the soft supporters of ISIS around the world.

What supports the ISIS cyber attacks?

You cannot target government websites and big time financial institutions without proper resources and back up. Here are a few areas they have got covered:

The ISIS hacking division: This unit sifts through targets, affixes the ability to procure sensitive data reviews past attacks where they have attained success in breaking through.

Cyber recruitment drives: There has not been an exclusive attempt to source in high-end hackers. But several young brains are trained at the Dark Web Forums, where those with elementary abilities are taught better skills. Reports indicate these forums include courses of varying difficulties from the rookie to professional.

Tactics and Techniques: Assessing the procedures and tactical patterns typically employed by ISIS supporters is a little difficult. But the footprints of collective social media campaigns and use of malware are fairly evident.

Malware vs. Tools: It is easy for Pro-ISIS hacker clubs to anonymously source hacking tools from public spaces while concurrently utilizing custom and identifiable malware.

And just like that, we have another thing to worry about. In our next post, we tell you how you should be dealing with ISIS cyber attacks.